15 June,2010 05:16 PM IST | | ANI
The British mom, who injected her teen daughter with Botox, is now teaching her 7-year-old how to pole dance.
Sarah Burge, 50, who owns a sex club where pole dancers perform, sees nothing wrong in her daughter pole dancing, but parenting experts and child abuse campaigners have warned she is sexualising Poppy far too young.
"I am keeping Poppy healthy and happy, and if in the future she wants to be a real pole dancer, who am I to stop her?" the Sun quoted her as saying.
"It's a great bonding experience for us to play on the pole together.
"We spend hours trying out poses and positions and dancing to our favourite music. Poppy wants to be like pop star Miley Cyrus, who also dances on a pole.
"There is no harm in a child having dreams. I'd rather have her be healthy and ambitious than sitting in front of the TV all day getting fat like most children," she stated.
Burge, from Cambridge, accepts that fact that people would be shocked at her teaching a seven-year-old provocative dance moves, but she is least bothered about it.
"I could not care less what people think about me," she said.
"People think of the pole as a sexual object, but does this mean kids are not allowed to slide down a pole on a climbing frame?
"There are bad people out there who will have dirty thoughts about what Poppy is doing, but I will always protect her from men like that. There are no paedophiles while she's pole dancing, there's no risk," she revealed.
She also claimed she was preparing Poppy for the day when she inherits her swingers' club, called Madame Pink.
"There are pole dancers in the club. This exercise is early training, so she knows what to look for in dancers and will be a successful boss of the club," she explained.
Burge also supports Poppy's wish to have surgery when she is older.
"Poppy wants a boob job when she is old enough, and what my daughters want, they get. She also wears high heels and make-up, it makes her feel pretty," she said.
Dad Tony, 50, who took photos of Poppy pole dancing with her mum, sees pole dancing as an exercise.
"They make a great team. There is nothing wrong with using the pole for fitness," he said.
But Kidscape director Claude Knights said: "It is worrying because pole dancing is associated with sexual activities."
"Pole dancing has connotations far beyond what a seven-year-old understands. If she was to say, ''We're doing gymnastics'' it would be different," he stated.
Siobhan Freegard, of Netmums, who called Poppy's lessons "shocking" added: "Pole dancing is akin to striptease. Girls love it when mum gets involved in an activity with them, so the daughter is going to be massively influenced."
